A Fraction Of Nineteen Years
by xshadowxwitchx
Summary: The second wizarding war is over, and the battle has been won. But what happened during those nineteen unexplained years that J.K Rowling has left us with? Following the story of Harry Potter and his and his friends through life after the war. Ships- Hinny, Romione
1. The Beginning Of The End

Chapter One

The Beginning of the End

"Harry!" Hermione shrieked. Harry Potter, the boy who lived, the chosen one, and according to the events that had occurred that very day, the conqueror of the Dark Lord, Voldemort, had nearly just gotten himself killed. Again. Exhausted from the Battle of Hogwarts, which had only just ended about an hour ago, Harry, Ron and Hermione were heading down from the headmaster's office to the Great Hall so they could join the rest of Ron's family. About a quarter of the way down, Harry nearly walked off of the edge of one of the changing staircases and fallen fifty-feet below. Ron lunged forward and grabbed the back of Harry's hoodie, yanking him backwards and sending them both sprawling on the bottom of the staircase. "On second thought, Harry," panted Ron. "Maybe we should just go up to the Common Room instead." Harry pulled himself up as the staircase connected itself to a balcony. "Yeah, Ron, I think that's probably a good idea."

When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, she burst into tears. "Oh, go on in! You three don't need a password, you really are _true_ Gryffindors, no doubt!" She sobbed, dabbing at her eyes with a lace handkerchief. Harry, Ron and Hermione each muttered words of thanks, and clambered through the portrait hole, as they had done so many times before. At their entrance, the many Gryffindors waiting inside began to cheer and applaud, hugging and clapping the trio on the back. Harry was reminded strongly of when his name was pulled out of the Goblet of Fire three and a half years earlier, and he had come to the common room to find a scene similar to the one he was experiencing now.

Everybody was happy for him, but Harry just felt plain lousy. Sure, he had defeated Voldemort. He had saved the world. But he had also cost the lives of so many people, people who didn't deserve to die. Lupin and Tonks, now their son would grow up an orphan and Teddy Lupin would never get to meet his parents… And Colin Creevy. Sure, the kid _had_ always annoyed Harry a little bit, but he was so full of potential, and was one of the bravest people Harry had ever known, sneaking into the battle to fight even though he was underage.

Then there was Fred. Harry had actually witnessed his death, and it was hard to shake the memory of it. The Weasleys had done so much for Harry, yet what did he give them in return? A dead son. Harry remembered the first time he met the Weasleys, on platform nine and three quarters, seven years ago. Fred and George had been the first of the Weasley children to actually acknowledge Harry that day, offering to help carry his luggage onto the Hogwarts Express. He remembered the twins being ecstatic about going to school with the boy who conquered the Dark Lord at the mere age of one. Now the Weasleys are probably wishing they had never even met Harry.

Harry stood in the middle of the common room, glued to the spot as all of these horrible thoughts went through his head. Only Ron and Hermione seemed to notice something was wrong, and Hermione laid a gentle hand on Harry's shoulder. "Come on, Harry. Let's go up to the dormitories." she said. Harry nodded his head stiffly, and followed his two best friends up the stairs, away from the crowds of people, who continued their celebration.

Harry nearly sobbed when he saw his four poster bed, it's curtains drawn open in a welcoming manner. After sleeping in a tent in sleeping bags on hard wooden bunks for almost a year, the soft, comfy mattress on which he collapsed onto was heaven. Which was saying a lot, because Harry had actually been to heaven. At least he thought he had. He wasn't sure what had happened when Voldemort had attempted to kill him in the Forbidden Forest, and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. It would just add even more confusion to his life.

He got in a sitting position on his bed as Ron and Hermione sat down on Ron's four poster. They sat in silence for while, before Ron said, "So, what do we do now?" At this, Hermione began to cry, burying her face in her hands. Ron immediately put his arm around her, pulling her close and stroking her hair gently. Harry sat forwards on his bed and rested a hand on Hermione's knee. When Hermione had calmed down a bit, she removed her hands from her tear stricken face.

"I-I'm sorry, I just never expect us to make it this far." She said shakily. "Honestly 'Mione," Harry confessed. "neither did I. Just a month ago, whenever I thought about my future, all I could see was V-" He surprised himself with the incapability to say the name. The name that had cost the lives of Lupin, Tonks, Fred, Mad-Eye, Snape, Dumbledore, his parents. "Harry?" Hermione looked concerned. "Are you alright?"

"It's all my fault." Harry choked. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry, Harry, for what?" Ron questioned, looking confused.

"I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for Fred, Ron. Hermione, I'm sorry that your parents have no idea who you are. I'm sorry for dragging you two along on _my_ mission." Ron got up on his feet.

"Harry, stop it, you don't know what you're saying. Fred knew the circumstances of fighting in the battle. He knew it was possible to be… killed." Ron sat back down on his bed, as if he was just coming to terms with his brothers death. "He's right, you know Harry." Said Hermione. "Fred knew. And so did I, I wouldn't have taken away my parents memories if I really didn't take you seriously." They sat in silence for a long moment, before Harry got up and said, "I'm going to go take a walk. See you guys later." They both nodded solemnly, and Harry left the common room, searching for the girl he yearned to see most.


	2. Unsaid Words

Chapter Two

Unsaid Words

As soon as Harry walked into the great hall, he nearly turned back around and walked right out again. He was _terrified_ to go back in there. It was where a majority of his friends and fellow classmates lay, all dead because of him. But Harry knew he needed to go in there, he needed to check in on how the Weasleys were doing, and find Ginny. He wouldn't feel right if he didn't. He walked shakily down the center of the hall, passing the bodies of Lupin and Tonks, which he forced himself not to look at, and Colin Creevy, his younger brother Dennis kneeling at his side. Harry's heart began to pump faster and faster had he got neared the table the Weasley's were sitting at. He noticed that Madame Pomfrey and some of her healers were beginning to move some of the bodies out of the Great Hall, and Harry saw the dead body of his old school mate, Justin Finch-Fletchy, being levitated through the air, which only made Harry feel more depressed.

"Harry!" Harry had walked right into a bone crushing hug from Mrs. Weasley, which squeezed every inch of air out of him. She pulled back and looked straight at him with the warm brown eyes that her daughter Ginny had inherited, which were currently red and filled with tears. "Oh, my boy… you did it! I can't believe you actually did it! It seems like only yesterday you were just an eleven year old boy… asking how to get onto the platform… Come, sit! You must be tired, and hungry too! Where's Ron and Hermione?" She said, her eyebrows knitting together in concern as she examined his various wounds. "Their up in the common room, resting. I reckoned they wanted a little time to themselves, you know?" Harry told the kindly woman. "Where's Ginny?" He examined the table, looking for a pair of brown eyes that would lock with his green ones.

Mr. Weasley was sitting at the head of the table, looking up at Harry, also with red brimmed eyes, beaming at him with pride. Bill, Fleur, Charlie and Percy were sitting at the opposite end of the table, conversing in low voices. George was sitting next to Charlie, but didn't appear to be participating in their conversation. His eyes looked dead and glassed over, holding none of their usual mischievous light, and he stared vacantly down at the ground. When he noticed Harry standing there, he looked up and gave him a small, sad smile. Harry half waved at him, and turned back to Mrs. Weasley. "I think Ginny went down to the lake. I'm sure she would love some company, if you'ld like to join her." She said warmly.

"Great, thanks Mrs. Weasley."

"No problem dear. I'll be expecting to see you for lunch, you look starving!"

"I wouldn't miss it." Said Harry, realizing for the first time how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten anything since before the battle. He exited the Great Hall, greatful for an excuse to get away. The morning sun was shining brightly down upon the lake, causing it to glimmer beautifully. But to Harry, nothing could possibly ever be as beautiful as the girl sitting at the edge of the shore, staring into the horizon. She was covered in dust and grime and blood from the battle, and her flaming red hair flowed behind her as she marched up to the spot where he stood. However, her eyes blazed with fury.

"HARRY-JAMES-POTTER!" She screamed, as Harry instinctively backed away. "HOW DARE YOU SCARE ME LIKE THAT, PRETENDING TO BE DEAD?" She slapped him across the face, knocking his glasses askew and causing them to dangle from one ear.

"Ginny, I-" She cut him off.

"I REALLY THOUGHT YOU WERE, HARRY! _DEAD_!"

"Ginny-"

"FIRST FRED, AND THE YOU! I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO WITH MYSELF, YOU-" Harry grabbed her shoulders and did what he had longed make up for since his birthday. He kissed her. When they pulled apart, Ginny was left stuttering. "You...you...you…" She sobbed and flung her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. "It's okay, Gin, I'm here… I'm here..." Soothed Harry, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on the top of her head, holding her until she stopped shaking, exchanging all unsaid words between them in the embrace. Finally, Harry whispered into her ear, "I love you, Ginny Weasley." Silence. She looked up at him, her eyes momentarily widening in shock. She reached up and gently placed his glasses back onto his nose before saying, "I love you too, Harry Potter."


	3. A Fresh Start

Chapter Three

A Fresh Start

Harry and Ginny walked hand in hand back to the castle. Despite his earlier gloomy mood, Harry was elated. She loved him! _She loved him_. And he loved her. "So…" Harry said, swinging their hands back and forth between them. "Does this mean… Does this mean you'll be my girlfriend again?"

"Not so fast, Potter." Ginny reprimanded teasingly. "First we have to go over some things."

"Things? Like… like what?" Harry questioned nervously. Ginny smirked.

"Well, first and foremost you have to apologize for being a complete idiot for breaking up with me last year for 'my own safety'." She said, doing a terrible imitation of Harry's voice. "But it was for your own safety!" Harry protested.

"So you don't want me to be your girlfriend? Because Dean Thomas is looking pretty good lately…"

"Okay, okay! Ginny, I am dreadfully sorry for breaking up with you last year, it was the worst mistake of my life. And Dean Thomas isn't the one who just vanquished the most powerful dark wizard of all time, you know-"

"I'm just teasing, Harry. You're the only one I'd ever want to be with." She said earnestly. "So that means you'll be my girlfriend again?" asked Harry, his voice overflowing with hope. Ginny laughed. "Of course I'll be your girlfriend again. But you have to promise me something."

"Like what, Gin?" She pulled his arm around her shoulders.

"Never break up with me, disappear for a year with my brother and best girl friend on some secret mission, come back, start the battle of the century, and _die,_ again." Her tone was serious. Harry nodded, pulling her closer.

"I promise."

The Great Hall was still filled with people, dead _and_ alive, when they entered it. Bill, Charlie, Fleur, Percy, and George had seemingly left the Great Hall, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sitting at their table alone. Mrs. Weasley was crying, and Mr. Weasley was trying to console her. "Maybe we should come back later." Ginny said, her voice heavy with sorrow at this reminder of her brother's death. She slowly pulled Harry out of the Great Hall. "You okay, Gin?" He asked softly, concern filling his voice. However, Ginny's response wasn't nearly as gentle.

"Okay? Harry, I'm sorry, but sometimes you can be so dimwitted! Of course I'm not okay! My brother is dead Harry, Fred's _dead_! I'm so scared, I mean, this could tear the whole family apart! What will happen to George? He's never gone a minute in his life without his twin, and suddenly Fred's been taken away from him, from _me_ , forever! And mum and dad… you saw them in the Great Hall! Nothing's ever going to be the same again Harry…"

Tears began streaming down her face. Harry stopped walking and looked at her eye to eye, clasping her warm hands in his own. "Ginny, I've know your family for seven, almost eight, years now. And if there's one thing that I'm sure of, it is that nothing in this world could tear them apart. If anything, it will only pull you guys closer together. And I'm sure that George will be okay. He's tough. He won't break. Fred wouldn't have wanted him to. And that goes the same for your parents, and for your other brothers, and you. It will take some time, but one day, you're family will feel whole again."

He brushed a hand against Ginny's face, wiping away her tears. "How did you get to be so wise on things like this Harry?" She choked. "You know… Death?" Harry touched his forehead to Ginny's and replied, in a barely audible whisper "I've had a lot of personal experience."


	4. Making Amends

Chapter Four

Making Amends

Parvati Patil was standing in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady when Harry and Ginny made it to the Gryffindor Common Room entrance, and she seemed to be fighting with the painting. "I don't know what the new password is, I haven't been here all night! I've been off _fighting_. You know, in the _battle_." The Fat Lady giggled. She seemed to be having some sort of a celebration party with her friend, Violet. Both their cheeks were tinged red, and there was a bottle of wine sitting on the little table in the portrait.

"Sorry dearie, but no password no entrance! No matter who you are… Oh, Mr. Potter! Come on in!" She exclaimed when she saw Harry and Ginny, swinging the portrait hole open. Parvati whirled around. "Harry! Ginny!" She greeted, hugging both of them. "I'm so glad to see both of you! You two are lifesavers, honestly. She would have never let me in if it hadn't been for you two." She said as they climbed through the entrance to the Common Room."I'm so sorry to hear about Fred, Ginny. He was a great guy." Parvati put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Ginny smiled. "Thanks Parvati. How's Lavender?" Ginny asked, knowing Parvati would probably know since she and Lavender had been best friends since their first year at Hogwarts. Parvati frowned, shaking her head. "She's still alive, but seriously injured. She took a lot of trauma to her body, falling off that balcony, then getting attacked by Fenrir Greyback. I've spoken to the healers in the hospital ward, they're going to take her to St. Mungos in the morning. But they aren't completely sure she's going to make it through the night." Ginny was taken aback by the news. "Oh, Parvati…"

"It's okay. Lavender wouldn't have been sorted into Gryffindor if she wasn't strong. She's going to make it. I know she will." said Parvati, though her voice was shaky. Ginny hugged her. "Me too." She said, as Parvati walked up the stairs into the girls dormitories. Ginny looked really upset about the news about Lavender, and Harry gave her hand a squeeze as they walked towards the center of the Common Room, where a fire was crackling in the fireplace merrily. Ron and Hermione were curled up together in one of the big comfy armchairs, kissing. George was sitting in a nearby windowsill, fiddling with some sort of small metal device. He was being so unusually quiet that Harry almost didn't notice he was there. Before Fred had died, he probably would have made some sort of joke about Ron and Hermione finally being together. But now he didn't seem to care, or even notice for that matter, looking quite oblivious to the world around him.

Ginny began to move towards where he sat, but Harry held her back, shaking his head. Harry normally wouldn't get into a family decision like that, but he knew it was probably best they left George alone, remembering what had happened when Dumbledore had tried to talk to Harry after Sirius's death. Ginny silently agreed, instead turning to Ron and Hermione, who still hadn't noticed the two were standing there. "Oi! Get a room!" She yelled, and Ron and Hermione jerked apart. "Ginny… Harry…Um… How much did you see?" Ron said, his ears turning red. "Just enough to know that you two finally got together, after what? Seven years? Honestly Ronald, not even man enough to tell a girl that he likes her." Ginny teased.

"Alright, alright. Thats enough. Where have you two been?" Asked Hermione, in what seemed like a desperate attempt to change the topic of the conversation. "Just, you know, taking care of some things." Harry responded casually. Ron's eyes moved from Ginny, to Harry, to their hands, which were still clasped together. "So… Are you two back together again?" He asked suspiciously.

"Yes, as a matter of fact we are." Ginny replied, crossing her arms. "Why do you care?"

"Why do I care?" Asked Ron, standing up from his chair angrily. "Because you're my little sister! I don't want him," He jabbed a finger at Harry. "to hurt you again!"

"Ron, that was different. I was trying to protect her!" Harry protested. "Breaking up with her was the worst thing I've ever had to do, and I promise, I will never leave her like that again!" Ron opened his mouth to snap back a retort, but Hermione stopped him "Ronald, Harry's your best friend, you two have been through everything together. You know you can trust him, don't let something like this tear your friendship apart."

"And Ron, Hermione's the closest thing to a sister I've got, and I don't want you to leave her again, like you did on our search for the-" He stopped mid-sentence, remembering that Ginny and George were in the room. "Sorry, but what do you mean, _Ron left you?_ " Ginny hissed, glaring daggers at her brother. Harry turned to Ron and Hermione, avoiding Ginny's gaze. "Okay, okay, I get the point. Sorry mate," Ron mumbled, giving Harry a one armed hug. "I guess I'm just still a bit touchy from the battle."

"I understand, you have the right to be. Forget about it." Said Harry. Hermione muttered something that sounded like ' _boys',_ under her breath, rolling her eyes. Ginny still hadn't had it. "Will somebody please explain to me what Harry had said earlier, or maybe where you three have been all year?" She fumed, the angry fire in her eyes roaring. Harry sighed, putting an arm around Ginny and pulling her down to sit with him on one of the armchairs. "You might want to take a seat Ron," He advised his friend, who was still standing up. "This tale's going to take a while to tell."


	5. The Trio's Tale

Chapter Five

The Trio's Tale

"Okay, so where should we start?" Harry asked.

"How about right after you left the wedding." Ginny suggested, seeming very eager for Harry to start the story she had been longing to hear since the trio left on their adventure. "Okay then, so Ron, Hermione and I apparated out of the wedding…" And taking turns, Harry, Ron and Hermione explained everything. 12 Grimmauld Place. The Ministry Of Magic. Ron's splinching. Camping in various middle of nowheres. "And then," Continued Hermione, "Ron disapparated." She shot Ron an angry look. "And Harry and I hadn't known what had happened to him, or if he was even _alive_ for that matter, for weeks!" Ron's ears turned the brightest red than Harry had ever seen them at before. Ginny stood up, walked calmly over to Ron, who knew what was coming before it happened. "You abandoned them," She questioned, her tone taking on something like Dolores Umbridge's. "In the middle of the woods?"

Ron stood up again, trying to confront her. "Yes, but Ginny-" His little sister socked him in the stomach, cutting him off. Ron made a little _oomf_ , and doubled over in pain. Harry laughed. "You kind of deserved that, mate."

"You're kind of starting to get a bad reputation of being punched by girls, Ron." Said Hermione, who was also laughing.

"Yeah," Joked Harry. "Who's next up on the list of girls you've angered? Luna? Or Lavender, maybe?" Ron gingerly sat back down in the chair.

"Alright, I'm sorry okay? I wasn't being myself back then. It was the you-know-what controlling me." He wheezed. Ginny raised her eyebrows at this. "We'll explain that later" Harry promised her.

"By the way, how is Lavender? I know that she got hurt in the battle…" Ron trailed off. Ginny told him what Parvati had said, and Ron looked guiltily at the Hermione. After all, Lavender had been his ex-girlfriend, and now, while she lay dying on a hospital bed, he had been kissing another girl. Hermione took notice of Ron's troubled expression. "Why don't we go visit her one day?" She suggested. "They probably won't be letting visitors that aren't family in for a while though, knowing St. Mungos."

"I think that's a great idea, Hermione." Ron commented, pecking her on the cheek, though he still didn't feel much better. It wasn't only Lavender that was bothering him. He was supposed to be with his family, mourning the death of his brother. But the thing was, he wasn't able to mourn. He just still couldn't believe that Fred was dead, his mind just wasn't able to process it. He wanted it all to be some sort of sick joke, and that Fred would pop up from where he lay, yell "Got you!" and scare the pants off of everybody. But Fred was dead. Fred was _dead_ , and Ron needed to learn to accept that.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I think we've had enough public affection from you two today, don't you think?" He snorted.

"Yes, it's very funny and all but could you please continue the story?" Ginny begged, beginning to grow a bit impatient.

"Okay, sorry Gin." Harry apologized, still smirking at Ron and Hermione's embarrassed expressions. "So as Hermione was saying, Ron had just disapparated…" And he described those hard weeks without Ron, and their trip to Godric's Hallow, and the silver doe, the sword in the lake, Ron saving him, going to see Xenophilius Lovegood, being captured by the snatchers, the events that took place at the Malfoy Manor, staying at Shell Cottage, and their plan to break into Gringotts.

"So Harry had gotten the cup, but we were still pretty much trapped." Ron explained. "But then Hermione had this brilliant idea to break out of Gringotts on the dragon-"

"You broke out of Gringotts on a dragon?" Everyone jumped, startled. George had obviously been listening. "Yeah." Ron answered. "It was pretty awesome. You two- you should have been there, George." Ron cringed, realizing his mistake. George nodded, and went back to pulling at the gears of the small metal device. Ginny looked like she would rather like to hit Ron again, but refrained from doing so. As Harry continued the story, he couldn't help but notice how Ron and Ginny kept on constantly glancing over at their broken older brother with worry.

"Wow," Ginny whistled after Hermione had just described their meeting with Aberforth Dumbledore. "I would have never guessed that Dumbledore had such a troubled childhood. It's hard to imagine him as anything but the completely amazing, slightly mad old headmaster we knew him as. I just can't imagine him as a young man." Harry grinned at his girlfriend and checked the gold watch that had once belonged to Mrs. Weasley's brother, Fabian, that had been given to him for his seventeenth birthday, remembering the promise he had made to Mrs. Weasley that they would join them in the Great Hall for lunch.

He was surprised, it was already 11:45! Their story had taken longer than he expected to explain. "We can continue the story later, we should probably get cleaned up before we go down to lunch." He told Ron, Ginny and Hermione, who all agreed. Ginny and Hermione headed down to the girl's bathroom, and Harry and Ron to the boy's, George silently trailing behind them, not wanting to be left alone in the empty Common Room. After all, loneliness was a completely new experience for the young wizard, and so far, he was absolutely hating it.


	6. The Twin Left Behind

Chapter Six

The Twin Left Behind

Harry let the hot, steamy water run down his face, letting it run into his eyes, causing them to sting. For the first time that day, he was finally able to properly grieve the people they had lost in the battle without needing to be the strong one. Vast images of Lupin, Tonks, and Fred flashed through his mind. Lupin telling him to eat chocolate to make him feel better after he was attacked by dementors on the train to Hogwarts, Tonks clumsily knocking down the troll leg umbrella stand at 12 Grimmauld Place, Fred and George giving Harry the Marauder's Map, Lupin naming Harry godfather of their newborn son, Teddy, Tonk's bubblegum pink hair, Fred and George dropping out of Hogwarts in their last year and setting the entire school into a rebellion against Umbridge.

The water from the shower washed the tears out of Harry's eyes as he tried not to sob so he wouldn't startle Ron or George. It was Harry's fault they were dead, if Harry had just turned himself in to Voldemort sooner they would all still been alive. The thought ate him up inside, causing him to feel as hollow as a dead tree. Suddenly, the shower wasn't as pleasant as it had been before.

Harry stepped out shakily, wrapping a towel around his waist. He could still hear the sound of running water coming from two of the other stalls, which meant Ron and George were still in the shower. As he made his way over to the bathroom sink, Harry was startled by what he saw in the bathroom mirror. There were multiple cuts and scratches of all shapes and sizes all over his arms, torso, neck and face, but they all seemed to be pretty minor injuries compared to the huge black bruise that had formed on his chest, exactly where the killing curse had hit him in the forest. It had been sore all day, but Harry was to caught up in other things to really take a good look at it.

He hadn't known what he had expected; another lightning shaped scar maybe? Though what he had sustained was much worse than any scar, and the more Harry thought about it, the more his chest throbbed with pain. He decided he would have to go see Madame Pomfrey later and see if there would be anything she could do. Harry headed back to the Common Room, awkward as he had forgotten to bring a change of clothes with him to the showers, so he was forced to roam through the halls completely naked with the towel he had wrapped around himself as his only coverage. A portrait of a group of young women who were wearing poofy, brightly colored dresses giggled, causing Harry to blush furiously as he began to walk faster. He rounded the corner at full speed, nearly sending him crashing straight into a very startled Professor Mcgonagall. "Oh, sorry Professor!" He apologized, hastily picking up the many papers his head of house had dropped and handing them to her. "Potter!" She said in her strict scottish accent. "Where have you been all morning, Kingsley and I have been wanting to speak to you! And why on Earth aren't you wearing any clothes?" Harry hugged the torn, dirty clothes he had been wearing before getting into the shower close to his chest, making sure the bruise wasn't visible, as he didn't really feel like explaining how he had gotten it at the moment.

"Oh, I was just heading back to the Common Room to change for lunch." He told her. "What would you and Kingsley like to speak about?"

"We'll explain it later, come by the headmasters office later, and bring Granger and Weasley with you as well. But for now… just go put on some clothes, Potter." Harry smiled. He had missed his old Professor over the past year.

"Right, see you then Professor." Harry ran the rest of the way to the Common Room, he didn't want to run into anybody else until he had some clothes on.

When he got there, Harry put on some jeans and pulled a sweatshirt over his head. He was just about to leave to again to go down to the Great Hall when a voice coming from behind him caused him to stop and turn around. "Hey, Harry?" George hurried down the staircase form the boy's dormitories, trying to catch up with Harry. "Hey, George. What's up?" Harry asked, glad to hear that his friend was voluntarily talking again.

"I just wanted to let you know… Don't beat yourself up about Fred's death okay? It wasn't your fault."

"Thanks, George, I'll try not to, but it's not going to be easy." Harry confessed, wondering if George had heard him in the showers.

"I know. And about Ginny… Treat her good or I'll hex you into oblivion." George said at a feeble attempt at a joke. But something was missing from his voice, and they both knew what it was.

"Haha, okay, I get the point. I've already been bombarded by Ron, and I really don't need any more of you guys on my case." As Harry said this, his eyes flitted down to George's hand, which was bleeding profusely through the white bandage wrapped around it. "Hey, is your hand okay?" Harry asked him. It took a moment for George to realize what he meant. "What? Oh, yeah, it's fine. It stopped bleeding a while ago, though guess it just started up again." He shrugged. "What about you, mate? You okay? I mean you did kind of die, you know…" Harry laughed.

"Really? I didn't notice. Yeah, I'm okay." Harry lied. The bruise on his chest was hurting more and more by the second, though he still wasn't ready to talk about what had happened in the forest with anyone yet. George raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? Because you kind of have a trail of blood dripping down the side of your head." Harry touched the side of his hairline in surprise, and sure enough, it came back hot and sticky with the red substance that he had already seen enough of that day. "Drat…" He mumbled, picking up the towel he had been using to dry off and pressing it against the wound. "I completely forgot about that one." He thought out loud. "I got it when Fred died-"

Both of their eyes widened at the realization of what Harry had just said.

"Oh, God, I'm sorry George…" Harry groaned, desperately trying to cover up his mistake. George's face darkened again, the last few minutes of slight happiness lost. "You… You were there? You were there when it happened?" He stuttered.

"Um… Yeah, I was." Harry responded uncomfortably.

"Harry, how was Fred killed?"Harry's eyebrows knit together in confusion."You don't know yet?"

"Nobody's told me." George responded plainly.

"You haven't asked Percy?"

"Oh, I've asked him. But he won't talk to me. Or even look at me for that matter…" George trailed off sadly. Harry felt a sudden shock of anger at Percy. Fred's own twin deserved to know how he died. "Well… Um… So Ron, Hermione and I had just come back from… Doing something important in the Room Of Requirement, and we saw Fred and Percy dueling some Death Eaters, one of them was Thickness, you know, the former Minister Of Magic? And Percy made some sort of joke about resigning from the Ministry, and Fred laughed and said something back to him, and then part of the castle wall exploded, and I'm not sure how it happened, Fred could have gotten hit by a stray killing curse or by piece of rubble or whatever, but one moment he was alive and laughing and the next he was… dead." George seemed to be clenching and unclenching his fists as Harry reencountered this. "Thanks Harry. You better get downstairs now, or mum will kill you. Sorry for keeping you." He said, not facing him.

"No problem. Anytime, George." And with that, Harry climbed back out of the portrait hole, leaving George to his thoughts.


	7. The Will Of Dobby The Free House Elf

Chapter Seven

The Will Of Dobby The Free House-Elf

Once again, the brief happiness Harry had experienced earlier had blinked off once again, as if it were a broken lightbulb. He reentered the Great Hall, taking up spot at the Weasley's table between Ginny and Hermione.

Hermione was deeply immersed in a new article of _The Daily Prophet_ , a look of disgust on her face. She flattened it out on the table so that everyone could see. Harry read the headline and immediately stopped reading after that, leaning back covering his face with his hands.

 _ **IS FAMOUS WONDERBOY HARRY POTTER'S RELATIONSHIP WITH MS. HERMIONE GRANGER FINALLY OVER AFTER THREE LONG AND TROUBLED YEARS? AND WHAT WILL HARRY SAY WHEN HE HEARS THAT MS. GRANGER HAS DITCHED HIM FOR HIS GINGER HAIRED BEST FRIEND?**_

"It's completely ridiculous." Voiced Hermione, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. "The battle of the century just ended this morning, and all they can think about are love interests." Ginny grabbed Harry's hand under the table, as if she could read his mind. _I guess I'll just never be able to get away from the center of attention._ He thought, watching as hundreds of platters of food presented themselves on every table in the Great Hall, and everybody stopped whatever they were doing to go take a seat and devour the feast that was quite similar to the one that they had at the beginning of every school year.

Harry helped himself to a little bit of everything, suddenly hungrier than he had ever been in his life. Ron was already a quarter of the way through his meal when Harry had just finished filling up his plate, and surprisingly enough, so was Hermione. Harry had soon caught up to them, and the only sound in the Great Hall resolving to the scraping of silverware against plates and goblets of drinks being set back onto the table.

Finally, Mrs. Weasley looked up from her plate, doing a quick headcount of everybody sitting at the table. "Eleven, twelve- Where's George?" She asked, her brow furrowing.

"He's back up in the Common Room." Harry told her through a mouthful of roast beef. "Hmm, are you sure he's okay, up there all alone like that?" Mrs. Weasley looked worried. Ron sighed.

"Honestly mum, you shouldn't worry so much. It's not like he's going to kill himself…" Almost immediately Ron looked down, ashamed of what he had just said. This statement was questionable; would George actually go to that great of a length to be with his twin again? Harry pushed that thought way to the back of his mind. That wasn't going to happen. He wouldn't let it happen. Mrs. Weasley's eyes narrowed and her mouth opened slightly, as if she were about to give Ron a bad scolding. Knowing that his friend hadn't meant what he had said, Harry quickly changed the subject.

"So, does anybody know who's going to be the new Minister of Magic now that Thicknesse is gone?" He questioned, looking around the table for a possible answer. He had actually been wondering this, and was hoping for some good news. "Well, there has been a rumor going around that Kingsley might be the temporary Minister until they can find a new one." Mr. Weasley informed him.

Harry felt relieved. At least for the time being, Harry finally felt like he was able to trust a Minister for once.

"Why not just keep Kingsley? Why have a new Minister?"

"Well, Kingsley isn't really sure he wants the Minister's job full time. He says that he'd rather continue his job as an auror."

Harry nodded, slightly disappointed.

"I expect that you three will be returning to Hogwarts to make up for your your seventh year in September along with Ginny?" Mrs. Weasley inferred. Harry couldn't help but notice how Mrs. Weasley was steering away from the topic of _where_ exactly the three had been, which Harry was grateful for. But about Mrs. Weasley's question, he honestly wasn't sure. It would be hard to return back to Hogwarts after the battle, the castle held so many memories of the ones they had lost. Harry was just about to answer Mrs. Weasley when a horrible scream echoed through the hall, causing it to go completely silent.

"WHERE ARE THEY? WHERE'S MY DORA AND HER HUSBAND?!" Andromeda Tonks stood in the doorway of the Great Hall, her curly brown hair wind blown and her eyes wide with dread. In her arms, she held a squirming bundle of blankets. Professor McGonagall slowly got up from the staff table and made her way over to the poor women, whispering something in her ear.

Mrs. Tonks collapsed where she stood, sobbing, holding little Teddy close to her chest as he also began to cry. Professor McGonagall knelt down beside her and put a kind hand on her back as the entire Great Hall watched them with sympathy. After a couple of minutes, Professor McGonagall helped Mrs. Tonks up, and together they made their way over to the Weasley's table. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley got up and each hugged Mrs. Tonks, and Harry stood up, not really knowing what to do, and hugged her as well. She mumbled something to Harry about wanting to say goodbye to her daughter in son-in-law one last time, placed Teddy in his arms, then followed Professor McGonagall out of the Great Hall.

Harry stared in complete shock at the screaming baby he was now holding. To Harry's surprise, the baby began to calm down and stared back. Teddy Lupin had bright turquoise hair, and big brown eyes. Harry, unsure of what to do once again, tried to hand Teddy to Ginny.

"Here, um… You're probably better with babies than I am." Harry said tentatively, speaking the truth. The responsibility of taking care of a baby scared him. Ginny handed him back to Harry. "Oh, for goodness sake Harry! You're his Godfather! You just defeated the dark wizard of a millennia, you can at least handle holding your Godson!" She stated sternly.

Harry nodded, awkwardly taking Teddy back and sitting down. "Um… Hello… How are you?" Harry asked the infant.

Teddy stared at Harry open mouthed, a small strand of drool hanging out, dripping onto Harry's shirt. "Oh! Um… Could you… Could you please not do that?" Harry asked, holding the baby away from his shirt and accidently knocking over his glass of pumpkin juice as he reached for a napkin, spilling it all over himself and the baby. "Argh! Oh, sorry!" Harry apologized, Teddy's only response changing his hair bright orange.

"Oh, 'ow sweet! 'E looks like 'e could be a Weasley now!" Fleur gushed. Teddy made a noise that sounded kind of like "mmh"and every girl in the Great Hall squealed with delight.

It was then that Harry realized that everybody was still watching them, his cheeks burned red with embarrassment. The many witches, wizards, and students all returned to their business, murmuring quietly.

But the Weasley's, including George, who had presumably decided to join the rest of his family, remained watching Harry, waiting for his reaction to his new godson. Honestly, Harry didn't know how to react. He was overwhelmed, extremely happy, and dead terrified about being a Godfather all at the same time as he attempted to wipe the squirming, sticky and drooling baby with the napkin.

"Well… He's very-" Harry began, but was cut off by a loud screech. A large, brown owl had just glided into the Great Hall, carrying with him in his claws a small, fuzzy, something which he dropped into Harry's lap. Harry lifted up in front of his eyes what appeared to be a gray wool sock.

"What the-?" Harry opened up a small, folded, piece of parchment that was attached to the sock, reading the messy, scrawled writing.

In case something bad happens to Dobby, to master and his Weezy.

-DOBBY

Harry's mouth gaped open in surprise, re-reading the note over and over again until he had finally registered what it meant.

"What is it, Harry?" Asked Hermione, leaning over to read the note. Harry handed it to her, and she slowly raised a hand to cover her mouth, handing the piece of parchment to Ron, who read it aloud.

"In case something bad happens to Dobby, to master and his Weezy? Weezy meaning me, I suppose? What does this mean?" He asked, automatically turning to Hermione for an answer.

"Don't you see, Ron? Dobby had written a will, and left it to you two!" Hermione explained.

"Um, what exactly did he leave us?" Ron asked. "His sock collection?"

"Part of it." Said Harry, holding up the sock. Teddy reached his arms up, trying to grab at the ends of the frayed yarn.

"Um, don't you mean all of it?" Bill questioned, a strange hint of tension in his voice.

"No, just one sock." Harry answered, confused. Bill shook his head, his eyes widening as he seemed to be staring at something just above Harry. Harry turned around to see what Bill had been gaping at, but it was too late. Thousands of owls of all colors, shapes, and sizes zoomed into the common room, all carrying various types of socks.

"GET DOWN!" Charlie screamed, and everybody in the Great Hall immediately ducked under the tables, holding their hands over their ears. It was a big, colorful whirlwind of screeching owls, screaming witches and wizards, and socks. Many _, many_ socks. Filling every inch of floor in the Great Hall, landing in food, plopping in people's drinks. It was complete chaos.

Under the Weasley's table, it was even more chaotic. Mrs. Weasley screamed, and Mr. Weasley desperately tried to calm her down. Ron and Charlie swore loudly, as Hermione reprimanded them. "YOU TWO DO REALIZE THAT THERE IS A _BABY_ UNDER THIS TABLE WITH US!" She yelled over the roar of the panicking crowds.

" _WHAT_?" The two brothers shouted back in unison. Hermione rolled her eyes. Bill was holding Fleur, shielding her from the socks and talons of owls. Harry held Teddy close to him, trying to figure out a way to possibly stop the sock storm, but Teddy seemed to have fallen asleep in the midst of the insane circumstances. Ginny was yelling at Harry angrily. " _HARRY-JAMES-POTTER!"_ She yelled, as multiple balled up socks bounced off of her kneeling figure. "WHAT-THE- _HECK_ -IS-GOING-ON-HERE?!"

Percy attempted to swat away some of the socks that were falling under the table, but ultimately gave up, there were too many of them. The only person who didn't seem so bothered by the chaos was George, who predictably seemed quite amused with the situation.

Finally, Hermione had enough. Despite Ron's desperate attempts to stop her, she climbed out from under the table, and was submitted into a tornado of socks and owls. The Weasleys and Harry held their breath, waiting to see what she would do. They saw Hermione raise her arm and heard her cry out a spell, " _Immobulus!"_ And the air went still.


	8. The Mark Of The Curse

Chapter Eight

The Mark Of The Curse

Socks and owls alike went completely still in midair, their frozen forms floating around gracefully. Hermione became visible again, lowering her wand and breathing hard. Ron ran over to her, enveloping her in his arms."Oh my God, Hermione, you scared me!" He groaned. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Ron. Honestly, you don't need to be so overprotective." Said Hermione, looking pleased with herself for her handy spell work. The two then became aware that Ron's entire family was watching the two embrace, and pulled away immediately.

He had already been teased enough that day about his and Hermione's sudden relationship, and he didn't need his four older brothers on his case as well. Hermione smiled at Ron, brushed herself off, and addressed the rest of the Weasleys and Harry, who still clutched the sleeping Teddy Lupin to hi

"Well, that was… interesting. I think we can all say- NEVILLE!" Everybody followed her startled gaze up, where Neville Longbottom floated among the socks and owls, completely paralyzed, a look of surprise frozen on his face.

"He must have been caught up in the spell." Harry guessed, moving towards Ron and Hermione. Ron looked like he was trying not to laugh. "Leave it to Neville to-" Hermione swatted Ron with her hand, cutting him off mid-sentence. "This isn't funny, Ron! How are we going to clean up all these socks and owls!"  
"And get Neville down from up there." Ginny added.

"We could try levitating them down in groups," Suggested Percy."then we could remove the freezing charm and get the owls out of the castle."

"Yes, but what about all the socks?" Ron asked.

"We could collect them and put them all in something like your little beaded bag, Hermione." Said Harry. "Like a box with the undetectable extension charm on it."

"Sounds like a good plan to me, but it's going to probably take a while." Hermione said, crossing her arms.

"It's the best plan we've got, any other plan is going to end up with hundreds of scared owls in the Great Hall, and Neville falling." Harry mentioned.

"Okay, while you kids do that, I can take care of Teddy, Harry." Mrs. Weasley offered, holding out her arms to take the baby. Harry was a bit reluctant at first to hand Teddy over. Despite his feelings of overwhelment, he felt like that it was his duty as a Godfather to be watching over and protecting Teddy at all times, in honor of Remus and Tonks. He took one last look at his Godson's sleeping face, and handed him over.

Together, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, George, Percy, Charlie, Bill, and Mr. Weasley each levitated small groups of owls and socks sown at a time while Fleur and Mrs. Weasley sat at the table, fussing over little Teddy. Harry couldn't help but move at a slower pace than the others, the bruise over his heart was beginning to take it's toll on his entire body, now causing a jolt of pain with even slight movement, though he tried his best to hide it. With a small wave of his wand, Bill brought down Neville, and released him from Hermione's enchantment.

"What-wha-?" Neville looked around, obviously very confused. Ron smirked, putting an arm around his bewildered friend's shoulders.

"You'll thank us for that later. Now get out your wand and help us clean up this mess, will you?" Neville nodded slowly, then began to levitate a group of owls down clumsily. Charlie proceeded to walk in and out of the castle, picking up three owls at a time and releasing them in the outside to go back to wherever they came from, while Hermione collected the socks and stuffed them all into what appeared to be a small tissue box.

In just a couple of hours, they had successfully gotten rid of all the owls and stored away all of the socks. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, George, Charlie, Bill, Fleur, Percy, and a still very dumbfounded Neville all headed back up to the Gryffindor Common Room, to Harry what felt like the millionth time that day. Climbing up the stairs felt like climbing up a mountain with the injury on his chest, and Harry found himself wheezing, unable to catch his breath by the time they had reached the first landing, while the others seemed just fine.

"Harry?" Ginny grabbed his arm to steady him when he started to sway a little. "Are you okay? Harry?" Harry's mouth moved, trying to form words, but was unable. The mark the killing curse had left on him had taken over his entire body; he couldn't think straight, couldn't speak, and a cloud of black was beginning to obscure his vision. He began to fall, the last things he felt being Ron and George's grip on his arms, catching him as he began to topple backwards, and the last thing he heard being Ginny and Hermione's panicked screams for help, sounding like distant echos, growing farther and farther away, until finally, nothing.


	9. In The Hospital Ward

Chapter Nine

In The Hospital Ward

"...impact, minor injuries, over-exhaustion, trauma… Why, if only he had come to me sooner none of this would have ever happened, I would have been able to heal him straight away! But no… Too proud to I suppose, just like every other Gryffindor I've ever had the _great pleasure_ to heal!" A woman's sharp, bossy voice complained loudly, breaking through Harry's peaceful darkness.

"Yes, but, he will be okay, right, won't he Poppy? The curse didn't cause any… Permanent damage?" Another woman's, much kinder, yet terribly worried voice, also stirred Harry. He slowly blinked open his eyes, and immediately recoiled into… whatever it was he was laying on. He blindly reached out a shaky hand and gently pushed away the wand that was producing an extremely bright, white ball of light that somebody had been waving in front of his eyes.

"Well we can't know for sure, Molly, we barely even know what had caused that horrible bruise on his chest in the first place!" Madame Pomfrey said, her tone softening a bit. "Oh, good, he's awake!"

Harry attempted to open his eyes once again, and through squinted lids he could just make out the blurry forms of Mrs. Weasley, Madame Pomfrey, Ron, Hermione, Professor McGonagall, and the very tall, bushy bearded figure of Hagrid. Ron handed Harry his glasses, which he took and put on gratefully. "Erm… What… What happened?" He croaked, peering around at his surroundings. He seemed to be lying in a bed in the hospital wing, which was overcrowded with injured students, the most seriously injured lying in beds and the rest bedrolls on the floor, as if they had run out of room.

"You fainted, mate." Ron told him, taking a seat at the foot of his bed. "We didn't really know what had happened to you, you just kind of…" He trailed off, shrugging.

"It was the bruise, or mark, or whatever it is that the killing curse had left on my chest." Harry said soberly. Hermione moved closer, resting a cold hand on his stiff shoulder.

"Harry, what are you talking about?" She asked, not unkindly. Though Harry could hear a hint of something in her voice, and he couldn't tell if it was resentment, or dread.

"When I was in the forest, Voldemort killed me." Harry said, his tone emotionless.

"Harry dear, I think you're delirious, you've been through a lot today. Maybe we could get him some dreamless draught sleeping potion, Poppy?" Mrs. Weasley requested, her motherly nature taking over as she began to bustle around Harry's bed, plumping his pillows, tucking in the sheets, all while checking his forehead temperature multiple times throughout the process.

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley, but I'm fine." Harry tried to sit up, but had a difficult time doing so, as he discovered that he now had absolutely no feeling in his chest or torso. The sensation was quite strange, and it felt as if his shoulders and arms were attached to nothing at all. Hagrid moved towards him, grabbed him under his arms, and pulled him into a sitting position.

Harry began to thank him, but Hagrid cut him off. "No need teh thank me Harry, it was nothin-"

"No. That's not what I'm thanking you for. Thank you for… For everything." Harry meant it. Harry felt horrible about Hagrid having had to witness Harry's "death" in the Forbidden Forest, carry his body back to the castle, then jumping out of Hagrid's arms, leaving the poor half-giant confused and probably sick with worry. Hagrid just visibly blushed under his wild black beard. "Thanks, Harry. I would hug ye, but considerin your condition at the mo', tha' probably wouldn' be the bes' idea. I'll save it fer later. Besides, you and I have got a lot ter catch up on, eh?" He chuckled. Harry nodded vigorously, grinning, happy that he still had his half-giant friend.

"Yes, all very touching boys, but could you resume what you were telling us, Potter? About the killing curse?" Professor McGonagall urged, taking on the same concerned, curious tone that Ginny had used when they had been explaining to her where they had been all year.

"Oh, um… So I… Um…" Harry wasn't sure how to tell them this. He barely knew what had happened himself.

"It's okay, Harry. You don't have to tell us if you don't want to." Hermione reassured him, but he refused.

"No, I need to tell you this. It's going to need to come up eventually, so, why not now?" Harry took a deep breath, but his eyes focused on a small group of people moving towards them from the other side of the room. Mrs. Weasley was herding over the rest of her family, who all swarmed around Harry's bed. But Harry's eyes remained trained on Ginny, trying to catch her gaze. Their eyes locked for a split second, and Harry felt remorse like he had never experienced before. Her usually warm brown eyes looked hurt, abandoned by their usual fire. He tried to take her hand, but she pulled away. "Ginny-"

"Later." She said coldly. "How are you feeling?"

Harry wanted to talk to her, reach out to her, tell her how sorry we was, to kiss her. "Fine, hey Ginny I'm really-"

George and Charlie moved over to stand on either side of their little sister, poising as brotherly bodyguards who were both taller, stronger, and more skilled with hexes than Harry, giving the remorseful seventeen year old the indication that he his conversation with his girlfriend could wait.

"How long have I been out?" He mumbled sheepishly. Ron counted on his fingers, muttering numbers under his breath.

"Five days."

Harry felt his eyes bug out of his head. " _Five days?"_

"Thats right, mate. You needed the rest though, we all did… You haven't really missed much, though. Basically all anybody's been doing for the past few days has been working on rebuilding the castle, sleeping, mourning… You know. Nothing interesting, really."

Harry groaned, sinking his head back into his pillows.

"We were going to head back to the Burrow the day after the battle, but we couldn't just leave you dear…" Mrs. Weasley said warmly.

"Thanks, but honestly, you shouldn't have had to wait for me. I'm sorry, Madame Pomfrey was right. If only I had told her about the bruise sooner-"

"Nonsense, Harry." Mrs. Weasley plumped Harry's pillows for what seemed like the millionth time. "It's probably better that we didn't go home right away…" She turned away, her back faced to the small party, and rearranged the stack of sheets at the end of Harry's bed. Harry thought he could hear her sniffling.

"Okay… So… Um… I don't really know how to tell you guys this," Harry started nervously. "But… Right before Snape died, he gave me some of his memories… And I'm not going to go into detail about exactly what the memories contained, that's for another time. But sixteen years ago, when Voldemort tried to kill me, a piece of his soul latched itself onto me when the spell backfired. He had created his final horcrux without intending to." Professor McGonagall, Ron and Hermione gasped, but the others looked confused.

w"Voldemort used horcruxes?" McGonagall's voice was shaky.

"Yes," Harry confirmed. "Several. That's what Ron, Hermione and I have been doing for the past year. We've been trying to track the horcruxes- fragments of Voldemort's soul concealed in various objects of importance-" He added, noting the bewildered looks he was still getting from a large portion of the group. "We'd been trying to track them down so we could destroy them, knowing that once we had gotten rid of all of them, we would be able to kill Voldemort.

"I went to the Forbidden Forest, to meet Voldemort, as he had said to do. He killed me. And I know this might sound crazy, but I went to what I think was the afterlife, and I saw Dumbledore." At this point Professor McGonagall looked as if she were about to faint. Her skin had become very pale, and her hand were shaking. It made Harry feel uneasy to see his usually very contained teacher so unsettled.

"Are you alright, Minerva?" Madame Pomfrey asked, obviously showing much more kindness for Professor McGonagall then she had to Harry. "I could see if I have a potion that might help…?"

"No, it's fine Poppy. It's just a lot to take in." Professor McGonagall confirmed, straightening herself. Harry shifted uncomfortably in his sheets.

"So… So you believe me?"

Professor McGonagall looked offended. "Of course I believe you, Potter! What, do you think I'm stupid? You may be only seventeen, but you've been through a lot in that short period of time. I don't think you would lie about something as serious as this. I trust you, Potter."

Harry gaped at her, the comfort of her words spreading through him like the warmth of a fire. McGonagall suddenly became impatient, pushing to get to the point. "But enough of this, just continue, for Merlin's sake!"

Harry bit the corners of the inside of his mouth to keep himself from grinning, glad that his Professor was back to her usual self.

"Okay, so yeah, I saw Dumbledore, and we talked, and then I was alive again."

"But… but… how?" Mr. Weasley stuttered, running his hands through what's left of his thinning red hair.

"I don't know." Harry replied honestly. "It was all so confusing. Though then, with the battle going on and everything, I didn't really have time to think about it, I guess." Harry was grateful that nobody had asked exactly what he and Dumbledore had discussed. He wasn't sure he wanted to share that. Not yet, at least. Along with many other things, such as the deathly hallows. He just needed to wait until the right moment.

They sat in silence for a long moment, pondering, registering, thinking. Finally, Madame Pomfrey came over, beginning to shoo Harry's small party out the door. "Out, out, everybody out! I have over fifty injured people to attend to, and don't need you lot crowding up the hospital wing!" When Harry attempted to get up to follow his friends, Madame Pomfrey pushed him back down.

"No, not you Mr. Potter. You're staying here whether you, or as a matter of fact _I_ , like it or not! I already have enough trouble on my hands without you causing another scene and fainting again!" She snapped, pouring a careful amount of dark blue potion into a small glass vile.

Harry looked up just in time to see Ginny following her family out of the hospital ward, and could have sworn she had been trying to catch his eye. But by the time Harry had opened his mouth to say something to her, she was gone.

Madame Pomfrey shoved the vial of blue liquid into his hands. "Drink this." She barked.

"What is it?" Harry asked, holding the liquid at eye level.

"Please, just drink it, Harry." Madame Pomfrey sighed, her voice taking on a type of firm gentleness. Harry, surprised at the woman's use of his first name, downed the vile in one.

The full impact of the potion hit, and Harry felt suddenly as though he were floating, the world wavering around him. His eyelids grew very heavy, and he slipped into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

"Harry."

Harry jerked awake at the voice, it's familiarity coursing through him like an electric shock. He blinked as he felt around for his glasses, which had fallen off while he had slept. Putting them on, the girl bending over him came into clear view, though he didn't need his glasses to know who it was.

"Ginny," Harry breathed, beginning to pull himself out of the bed. The pain in his chest was still present, though not nearly as bad as before. "Ginny, what are you-"

"Lower your voice," Ginny warned. "Or you'll wake the whole hospital wing." Harry then realized how dark the hospital wing was, it's torches magically dimmed. The room echoed with the sounds of snoring witches and wizards. The moon shone through the nearby window, its beams dancing across the stone floors and over he sleeping people.

"What time is it?" Harry whispered to the redheaded girl.

"Midnight."

"What are you doing here at midnight?"

Ginny hesitated. "I… I needed to tell you that… that I'm sorry." She took a seat at the foot of his bed, staring at her lap.

"Maybe we should take this into the hall." Said Harry softly, looking around at the sleeping people.

"Madame Pomfrey is sitting outside the door. There'd be no way out unless you want to get caught sneaking out of the hospital wing." Ginny informed him.

Harry furrowed his brow. "Then how did you get in?"

She smirked. "You do realize that I grew up in the same house at Fred and George."

Harry laughed quietly. "Okay, point made." He sighed."Ginny, you shouldn't be sorry. I'm the one who should be apologizing to you-"

"Shut up, Harry. I've been treating you terribly ever since the battle ended. I'm just… I'm so scared of losing you." Her voice wavered, but she remained stony faced. Harry stared at her in shock.

"Ginny, I'm sorry if I scared you. I should've let somebody know about the injury the killing curse had left earlier, then maybe I wouldn't have caused everybody all that trouble."

"It's not just that. It's everything. Everything from the night of Bill and Fleur's wedding up until now." She turned to face him, her eyes filled with emotion that tore Harry apart. "You were gone for a year, Harry. A year might not mean anything to you, but it sure meant a lot to me. Do you have any idea what that felt like? Having to go on everyday, not knowing if you were lost or captured, sick or hurt, dead or alive? Not even knowing where you were? Seeing you in Hagrid's arms, _dead_?" She broke off, her head in her hands.

Harry pulled them away from her face, holding them in his. Ginny wasn't crying, but her breath shook, and her expression filled with pain.

"I do." He said, much to her surprise. "You know the Marauders Map?" She nodded. "When Ron, Hermione and I were on our mission, I used to spend hours at night watching your name on it. It was my only piece of comfort during those days, knowing that you were still alive."

Tears now cascaded down Ginny's cheeks, sparkling in the moonlight. Harry beckoned for her to come lay next to him. She rested her head on his chest, and Harry stroked her soft hair soothingly.

"Harry?" She asked.

"Yeah, Gin?"

"Can I… Can I stay with you?" Harry watched through the window as dark clouds moved slowly across the night sky, beginning to block out the moon.

"Sure, Gin." Harry replied. "Always."

And Ginny fell asleep to the sound of Harry's beating heart.


	10. Back To The Burrow

Chapter Ten

Back To The Burrow

"Okay, is everybody ready to leave? Disapparate on three! One… Two… Wait a second, where's Percy? Oh, there you are, come over here! Okay, One… Two… Three!" Mr. Weasley instructed.

With the familiar spinning and disoriented sensation, the entire Weasley family, landed heavily on their feet in front of the tall, crooked house that Harry had come to know as the only real home he had other than Hogwarts.

Brushing herself off, Mrs. Weasley straightened. "Okay, all of you go and mingle, I'll be in the kitchen… Preparing dinner." Mrs. Weasley's voice wavered. "Arthur, come with me."

Mr. Weasley nodded solemnly. "Of course, dear."

They led the rest of the group into the Burrow. Harry brushed off his feet politely on the doormat before walking through the front door, peering around the kitchen.

The usually cheerful and cozy home seemed darker to Harry, and there was a somber aura about it all.

Harry had barely taken a few steps into the house before Ron grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"Maybe we should go up to my room." He suggested, his voice low. Harry noticed that most of the other Weasley's had cleared out of the kitchen as well, except for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who sat at the kitchen table, heads down.

Harry nodded, and followed Ron and Hermione up the long and winding staircase. Harry felt a sharp stab of sympathy as they passed Fred and George's room, the door ajar. Harry peered inside, though it was seemingly empty. It was exactly the same as it had been when Harry had stayed in it, the burn marks black against the white ceiling and colorful Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products streaming the floor.

Ginny's door was closed shut, but they could hear voices conversing inside.

"Are you sure your Mama would not like some help?" One of the voices asked, it's thick French accent proving that it could only be Fleur. The second voice Harry immediately recognized as Ginny.

"No. I'm sure she'd be very grateful for the offer, Fleur, but I think she means to be alone."

"And she has Mr. Weasley down their with her anyway, Fleur. I think they just need some alone time." The third voice undoubtedly belonged to Hermione. Harry jogged up the stairs to catch up with Ron. Another door was open, this one, as Harry observed, filled with all four of Ron's older brothers. They sat sprawled out in different sections of the small room, pondering in complete silence.

The door to Ron's room was at the top of the staircase, and by the time he reached it, Harry's chest throbbed.

Madame Pomfrey had informed Harry as he was being let out of the hospital ward that the bruise on his chest had been caused when the killing curse had failed to kill him. The curse wasn't supposed to work that way, so instead of stopping Harry's heart, it had spread through him, inflicting the bruise on his chest and a few fractured ribs. Madame Pomfrey had been able to heal the ribs, but the bruise had to be healed itself, as it had been caused by such a strong curse. She had reassured him that it would be sore for a couple of weeks, and had given Harry a few potions to help with the pain if he needed them.

He collapsed onto the mattress on the floor of Ron's room, still laid out from when Harry had stayed at the Weasleys the summer before. In fact, the room looked exactly the same as it had then. Harry was glad for that. At least he knew _some_ things hadn't changed.

Ron pulled out his wand, waving it obliviously making small, colorful sparks burst out of it's tip.  
"Why didn't you say goodbye?" Ron tossed his wand onto his bedside table, eyes gazing up at the ceiling. Harry blinked, puzzled.

"What?"

"Hermione and I, why didn't you tell us goodbye before you went to Voldemort?" Ron's voice didn't sound angry, just hurt.

"If I had told you where I was going, what I was doing, I doubt you would have let me." Harry replied, picking at the frayed edges of the mattress.

"Darn right we wouldn't have." Ron exasperated. "What were you thinking? How could you have done that to Hermione? To _me_? I thought best friends were supposed to tell each other everything, especially when they're about to go off and sacrifice themselves to noseless murderers like our good ol' pal Voldy."

Harry chuckled faintly. "Well, at least you've got that last part right. But…" Harry frowned. "I wouldn't have been able to tell you. I'm just one wizard, Ron. This is the entire magical world, we're talking about. Sometimes you've just gotta make sacrifices like this, you know." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "For the greater good."

"Stop quoting Dumbledore on me." Ron snapped. "Okay, I get your point. But it still hurt."

"I know it did" said Harry. "And I'm sorry, I wouldn't have done it if I had had any other choice. But I often don't." Harry finished, before smirking. "As Dumbledore always said, 'Nitwit. Blubber. Oddment. Tweak." He could practically feel Ron's glare.

"I told you, stop quoting Dumbledore." He grumbled.

"Why not?"

"Because," Ron's hands flew up. "It makes you sound like Hermione."

"Oh yeah, Hermione. Look at you two, always making kissy faces at each other." Harry did a horrible imitation of what Ron looked like with Hermione around.

"Shut it, Harry. Speak for yourself!" Ron threw a pillow at his best friend, hitting Harry in the face. The corners of Ron's mouth turned upward. "It's Ginny _this,_ and Ginny _that_. At least I don't stalk my girlfriend's door-" He was cut off when Harry through the lumpy pillow back at him, hitting his friend in the chest.

They laughed, but their laughter was drowned in what sounded like somebody running up the stairs. The door burst open, and George and Ginny stumbled inside, tripping over each other in the small space. They both looked extremely panicked, brown eyes wide with shock.

"Whats going on?" Ron was already on his feet, wand in hand. The smell of smoke hung heavily in the air.

"Get up Harry! We've got to go!" Yelled George, grabbing a slightly dazed Harry by the back of his shirt and hoisting him onto his feet, more serious than Harry had ever seen him.

"Where are we going? What's happened?" Harry demanded, not really sure he wanted to know.

"The remaining Death Eaters," Ginny explained, gripping Harry's arm tightly. "They came. They have mum."


	11. Snatched

**Hey guys! So here it is, after five months, finally, chapter eleven! I am really sorry for going so long without updating, especially after chapter ten's cliffhanger. I just haven't had much time to write recently because my life has been really busy these past few months with school, but I'm going to try to start updating more frequently again. I will also be posting chapter twelve later today, so look out for that! I also wanted to say, thank you so much for all the great reviews! You guys are great! Hope you like these next chapters!**

Chapter Eleven

Snatched

Harry was out of Ron's room and running down the stairs before the rest could even blink, taking the stairs three steps at a time. He could hear the three youngest Weasleys shouting something from behind him, but it was all drowned out by the sharp ringing in his ears. How had he and Ron not been able to hear the Death Eaters come in?

"Harry, stop!" Ginny's voice was like a magnet, pulling him back into reality. He turned around. She was standing two stairs up, her brothers behind her.

"Where are the others?" Harry demanded.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron's voice was tight, his worst thoughts surfacing in his mind.

"They went chasing after the Death Eaters who took mum. I think they're outside." George informed them. "I don't think the Death Eaters disapparated, we would have heard a crack."

Harry felt his face drain of blood, feeling as if his head were floating. "We just have to get there before they-"

The stairs beneath their feet exploded. The four were separated, and yells and screams filled the air. A wall of fire seemed to wash over Harry, all of the air being sucked out of his lungs. He didn't know which direction was up and which was down, or if he had even landed yet.

Finally, he hit hard, damp ground, the impact making his teeth rattle. He lay there, gasping for lost breath, before slowly sitting up and checking his surroundings. The air was thick with ash and smoke, making his eyes water and burn terribly. The grass was burnt, small patches of it on fire. Dead garden gnomes littered the ground, their bodies blackened and smoldering. Harry looked up, and felt as though he had been hit in the chest with a rocket- the Burrow was completely demolished, all that was remaining being a few flaming pieces of wood laying on top of a pile of rubble.

Suddenly a gut wrenching fear past through him as he remembered Ginny, Ron and George. Harry refused to believe the worst, and shakily stood up, feeling as though every bone in his body had been shattered to dust. He tasted blood and ash in his mouth, the metallic, bitter taste threatening him to be sick. Finally, he forced his dry throat to make a sound.

"Ginny?" He called out, his voice scratchy and hoarse. "Ron? George?"

No response. Tripping and stumbling over the splintered wood and rubble, his heart began to pound heavily in his chest. _No,_ He told himself firmly. _They're okay. They're not… They can't be…_

He heard the sharp sound of shuffling rock from behind him. Whipping around, he began to reach for his wand.

"Woah, Harry pipe down! It's just us." Ginny and George stood before Harry in the dark lighting, blood and dust covering every visible inch of them. Harry nearly fell on his face running to the two, then steadied himself and wrapping his arms around Ginny.

"Oh Merlin…" She whispered, her quaking voice more terror filled than Harry had ever heard it. "Oh…"

"It's okay, I got you, I got you." Harry whispered into her ash covered hair.

"Oi, you two," George tapped Harry's shoulder, and he stepped away from Ginny, not letting go of her hand. "Sorry to ruin the moment, but now is really not the time to get sentimental." Though even his voice was filled with fear. Harry looked around, and the minute of relievement left him completely.

"Where's Ron?" Harry asked Ginny, who blinked a couple of times, wiping at her eyes furiously with the back of her hand.

"We don't know," She muttered, swiping her long red hair behind her ears. "We thought he might be with you. We've been walking around the perimeter of the house looking for somebody, Ron or you or the Death Eaters or the rest of our family. Whoever we could find." She took a deep, rattling gasp. "But we found no one. You're the first."

"The Death Eaters must've cast some sort of curse on the Burrow," Harry said. "Why else would it have-" He was interrupted by a deep, pain filled moan coming from what sounded like a few feet away. The three were over there in seconds, digging through the rubble and dirt for a source of the noise.

Finally, Harry's hand grazed a moving thing in the wood. "Ron!"

Ginny and George were over in no time, and they all worked together to pull their brother out of the rubble. With one last pull, George pulled Ron out of the rock and set him down on the burnt grass. Ginny rested a hand on Ron's chest, and let out a sigh of relief. "He's alive."

"What do you suppose we do?" George asked. His eyes were empty as he stared at Ron, and Harry knew he was thinking of Fred. Fred had died in an explosion. "We can't just leave him here, and we have to go find the Death Eaters and mum-"

"Honestly, George, can't you just focus on the task at hand? This is your brother! Of course we're not going to leave him here."

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Gin! In case you haven't noticed, our house is gone! Our family has disappeared, and Ron is-"

"He's waking up." Harry told them. Ginny and George stopped arguing immediately, and watched as Ron's eyes fluttered open.

"Ow." He murmured under his breath, holding his head and sitting up.

"Ron, how are you feeling?" Ginny's hands flew around her brother.

"Like I've been broiled by a Hungarian Horntail." Ron groaned, shrugging Ginny off. "What in Merlin's pants happened?"

"That happened." Said George matter of factly, pointing at the ruins of the Burrow. "And watch your language."

"Shut up, George." Ron's eyes followed his brother's point, then became as wide as saucers.

"Wha- The Burrow!"

"Yeah and that's not all," Harry said. "We have no idea where the others went, unless they disapparated during the explosion-"

"The others? Meaning-?"

"Meaning the rest of your family, Hermione, and the Death Eaters."

Quicker than the speed of light, Ron was on his feet, running through the ruins of his house.

"HERMIONE!" He yelled, his voice sounding loudly over the roar and crackle of the fire. "HERMIONE!"

" _Ron, be quiet!"_ Ginny whisper-screamed at him. " _The Death Eaters, we don't know if they're still-"_

Almost as if on queue, George shouted, a Death Eater appearing with a crack behind him and wrapping an arm around George's neck, disapparating with the struggling young man.

Before Harry and Ginny knew it, Ron was gone too, his yell being cut off by a sharp _crack_.

"Harry!" Ginny was screaming, kicking out and trying to get away from the large Death Eater who gripped her tightly around the middle, lifting her small figure off the ground.

"Ginny!" Harry pulled at her, trying to break her free. If he let go to try and reach into his pocket for his wand, then he would lose Ginny.

"Ain't so tough are you now, eh Potter?" The Death Eater taunted, his voice deep and slightly muffled under his mask.

"Harry!" Ginny screamed. "Don't let go!"

The Death Eater began to turn on his heel, and Harry leaped forward, grabbing onto Ginny's arm. In a confused whirlwind of screams and riveting sensations, the Death Eater disapparated, taking Harry and Ginny with him into the dark.


	12. The Manor Again

Chapter Twelve

The Manor Again

Harry's eyes flew open wide. "Ginny-?"

He didn't remember passing out. He just remembered disapparating, Ginny's screams, the Death Eaters strong fingers trying to pull Ginny out of Harry's grip. Harry slumped back, exhausted. His back touched something cold and hard- some sort of stone wall, maybe? It was pitch black, Harry couldn't see his own hands even if he held them directly in front of his face. He couldn't tell if he was inside or outside, a cool wind seemed to be coming out of nowhere, blowing was felt like some fine dust across the ground.

"Hello?" Harry was surprised by how loud his own voice sounded in the dark and seemingly empty room. "Is anybody there?"

"Harry?"

Harry's head turned blindly towards the familiar, clipped voice. "Percy?"

He felt who he assumed was the third oldest Weasley child move closer.

"Harry, is that you?"

"Yeah. Are you alright? Are the others there too? Where are we?"

"We're in the Malfoy Manor. One of the Death Eaters came into the Burrow and took mother. They use her to lure us into the garden, where more of them came. The took us here and put us into what I think is some sort of dungeon, or cellar. They keep on coming back, taking one of us with them every five minutes or so. They just left with Fleur. You and I are all who's left." Percy explained.

"Probably saving me for the grand finale or something." Harry muttered, before catching himself. "No offense."

"None taken." They sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Harry kept expecting for some door to swing open, and for someone to come and take him away. It became so quiet, Harry wasn't even sure Percy was there anymore.

"I'd let them kill me." Percy said quietly, startling Harry out of his dark oblivion.

"What? Why would you say something like that? You haven't done anything wrong, Perce."

"No, I have. Think about it Harry. I left my own family to fend with war by themselves for over two years. I chose the stupid ministry over my own family." He broke off, before adding, "It's _my_ fault that Fred is dead."

Harry was momentarily shocked by Percy's sudden confession, before contemplating what he meant. "Percy, it's not your fault. There's nothing you would have been able to do-"

"That's not the point, Harry! I'm his older brother! It was my job to protect him, no matter how stubborn or bloody independent he got! He didn't deserve to die! He had way too much to live for! It should have been me! I am nothing, Harry! Nothing compared to what he could have been, or would have been if it weren't for me!"

Harry took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to convince Percy that it wasn't his fault that Fred died. "Perce, it's war. You can't just choose who deserves to die and who doesn't. You can trust me about that, I would know."

Percy began to say something, before a door banged open, letting in a stream of bright, yellow light. Two men bearing the masks of a Death Eater stood in the doorway, blocking out most of the light, casting shadows over Harry and Percy.

"Well lookee who we have here." The shorter of the two said, leaning over Harry. "Mr. Potter himself." He turned his masked and hooded head to the side, a curious sense of amusement radiating from him. "What an honor." The Death Eater sounded quite familiar, from where Harry was uncertain. The second Death Eater, tall and bulky in shape, grabbed Percy by the back of his shirt, bringing him close to his masked face.

"We've got another Weasley, it looks like. Should we put him with the others?"

"Yeah," Said the first Death Eater. "And take Potter here too, while you're at it. I hear he's very close to the blood traitors family. I'll tell the boss that they're ready."

"Ready for what?" Percy's face was pale in the dim lighting.

"Don't ask questions, blood traitor!" The second Death Eater slammed Percy's head once on the stone wall, and the redhead went limp in his arms.

Harry's heart raced, but he knew better than to protest. He needed to get to the rest of Weasleys; he would take things from there.

The second Death Eater picked up Harry with surprising strength, and followed the first out of the small cellar, Percy thrown over one shoulder like a sack of flour, unconscious, and Harry over the other, a trying not to yell in anger as the Death Eater slowly walked out of the cellar, the first Death Eater following behind him. A fire burning off hatred raged inside Harry, more powerful than anything he had ever felt before. The Weasleys are the only _true_ family he had ever known, and if he knew one thing for sure, it was that he wasn't leaving this Manner without them. He just had to figure out _how_.

The second Death Eater yelped suddenly, and collapsed to the ground, his eyes half-closed, small groaning noises emitting from the back of his throat. Harry and Percy tumbled to the Death Eater's sides, bumping against the walls of the slim hallway. Harry sat up, squinting and confused at the Death Eater who stood behind them, his wand out.

In a single movement, the Death Eater swiped his hand across his face, and the mask dissipated into black smoke, revealing his face and leaving Harry stuttering. "Draco?"

The pale faced Malfoy's eyes were hard as he strutted over to Harry, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and pulling him onto his feet gruffly.

"Get up, Potter, unless you want me to put you and Weasel face here," Draco grumbled, gesturing harshly at Percy's slumped figure. "Back in the cellar."

"But I don't understand." Harry said, as the two each grabbed one of Percy's arms and carried him down the hallway. "Why did you rescue us?"

"Well, I had to do something to pay you back." Draco snapped.

"Pay me back for what?"

"You seriously don't remember?"

Harry thought. The entire battle had seemed like a big blur, it was hard to really remember anything from that night. Draco sighed impatiently.

"You saved Goyle and I from Crabbe's stupid fiendfyre, Potter. You could have let us there to die, but you didn't." His voice softened slightly.

Harry nodded slowly, and remained silent. The Malfoy Manor was _huge_ , way larger than Harry remembered it. Then again, Harry had never been through the entire Manor like he was going through it now, Draco leading them through numerous exquisitely decorated hallways, up and down spiraling grand staircases, passing at least fifty closed off doors and rooms as they went. Harry could see the last ray of daylight disappearing over the horizon through a large, crystal clear window.

As they rounded a corner, Draco stopped so suddenly that Harry nearly dropped Percy, who was beginning to stir.

"What is-" Draco clamped a hand over Harry's mouth, cutting him off. Harry's eyes shot around the hallway. With a start, Harry spotted Lucius Malfoy, looking wearier than usual, though strutting down the hall with a sense of self dignity about him that made Harry sick. Draco pulled Harry and Percy into a corner, behind a thick velvet red curtain and hidden from view.

"Potter," He hissed. "You need to take Weasley and go. I'll hold off my father. For how long I'll be able to do so though, I don't know. Go to the sixth door on your left down the hall. That's where they're holding the rest of _them,_ " He jerked his head towards Percy. "And Hermione."

Harry was moderately taken aback by the sudden use of Hermione's first name. Draco had ever called her anything other than _Granger_ or _Mudblood_. And it might have been a trick of the light, but Harry could have sworn he saw Draco's pale cheeks tinge pink as he said it. Draco began to pull back the curtain, stepping outside into the hall, leaving a confused, slowly awakening Percy and an even more confused Harry watching from behind the curtain.

"Draco?" His old enemy stopped in his tracks, not turning around at Harry's words, though obviously listening. Harry bit his lip. "Thanks."

Draco didn't say anything, only hesitating for about a fraction of a second. He then straightened up, and continued his stride, going to meet the footsteps that now echoed down the hallway, growing nearer and nearer as the seconds of the night wore on.


End file.
